On-demand database service system, method and computer program product for generating a custom report

ABSTRACT

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for generating a custom report using an on-demand database service. These mechanisms and methods for generating an on-demand database service custom report can enable embodiments to generate reports that reflect a relationship between at least two different objects. The ability of embodiments to provide such additional insight into database contents may lead to more efficient and effective reporting.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,266,138, filedJul. 18, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/950,822 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ACUSTOM REPORT TYPE,” by Jesse Collins et al., filed Jul. 19, 2007, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates generally to database systems, and moreparticularly to editing graphical user interfaces associated withdatabase systems.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.

In conventional database systems, users access their data resources inone logical database. A user of such a conventional system typicallyretrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's ownsystems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality ofserver systems that might in turn access the database system. Dataretrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from theuser system to the database system. The database system might processthe request for information received in the query and send to the usersystem information relevant to the request.

There is often a desire to report on the contents of such databasesystems. To date, such reporting has been limited to reporting on singledatabase objects, etc. Unfortunately, such limitations severely inhibitthe ability of the user to gain insight into the contents of thedatabase.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms andmethods for generating a custom report using an on-demand databaseservice. These mechanisms and methods for generating an on-demanddatabase service custom report can enable embodiments to generatereports that reflect a relationship between at least two differentobjects. The ability of embodiments to provide such additional insightinto database contents may lead to more efficient and effectivereporting.

In an embodiment and by way of example, a method is provided forgenerating a custom report using an on-demand database service. In use,a request is received for a report on database contents of an on-demanddatabase service. Such request includes information describing arelationship between at least two different objects. By this design, thereport may be generated including at least a portion of the databasecontents, for being output.

While the present invention is described with reference to an embodimentin which techniques for generating a custom report using an on-demanddatabase service are implemented in an application server providing afront end for a multi-tenant database on-demand service, the presentinvention is not limited to multi-tenant databases or deployment onapplication servers. Embodiments may be practiced using other databasearchitectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® and the like without departing fromthe scope of the embodiments claimed.

Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with oneanother in any combination. Inventions encompassed within thisspecification may also include embodiments that are only partiallymentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all inthis brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments ofthe invention may have been motivated by various deficiencies with theprior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places inthe specification, the embodiments of the invention do not necessarilyaddress any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodimentsof the invention may address different deficiencies that may bediscussed in the specification. Some embodiments may only partiallyaddress some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussedin the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of thesedeficiencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a method for generating a custom report using an on-demanddatabase service, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2A shows a method for generating a custom report type using anon-demand database service, in accordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 2B shows an interface for initiating the creation of a new reporttype, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2C shows an interface for selecting a primary object or a focus ofa custom report type, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2D shows an interface for choosing related child objects, anddefining object relationships, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2E shows an interface summarizing information for a report typeduring the custom report type creation process, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 2F shows an interface for adding custom fields to a report type, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2G shows an interface for adding fields using a lookuprelationship, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2H shows an interface for defining filters, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a method for generating a custom report using an on-demanddatabase service, in accordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example of an environmentwherein an on-demand database service might be used.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of elements of FIG.4 and various possible interconnections between these elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

General Overview

Systems and methods are provided for generating a custom report using anon-demand database service.

To date, database reporting has been limited to reporting on singledatabase objects or based on certain predefined and fixed combinationsof two or more related database objects, etc. Unfortunately, suchlimitations severely inhibit the ability of the user to gain insightinto the contents of the database. Thus, mechanisms and methods areprovided herein for generating an on-demand database service customreport and can enable embodiments to generate reports that reflectarbitrary relationships between two or more related objects determinedby users of the system at runtime. The ability of embodiments to providesuch additional insight into database contents may lead to moreefficient and effective reporting.

Next, mechanisms and methods for generating a custom report using anon-demand database service will be described with reference to exemplaryembodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a method 100 for generating a custom report using anon-demand database service, in accordance with one embodiment. As shown,a request for a report on database contents of an on-demand databaseservice is received. See operation 102.

In the context of the present description, an on-demand database servicemay include any service that relies on a database system that isaccessible over a network. In one embodiment, the on-demand databaseservice may include a multi-tenant on-demand database service. In thepresent description, such multi-tenant on-demand database service mayinclude any service that relies on a database system that is accessibleover a network, in which various elements of hardware and software ofthe database system may be shared by one or more customers. Forinstance, a given application server may simultaneously process requestsfor a great number of customers, and a given database table may storerows for a potentially much greater number of customers.

Further, the request includes information describing a relationshipbetween at least two different objects. In the context of the presentdescription, objects may refer to any object including data such as datain a table, entire data tables, portions of data tables, rows or columnsof a data table, headers of a data table, etc. As an option, the objectsmay include business information (e.g. account information, customerinformation, etc.) stored in a table.

In one embodiment, at least one of the objects may include a customobject. In this case, the custom object may be an object generated by auser. In another embodiment, at least one of the objects may include astandard object. For example, the standard object may include standardinformation provided by a database service.

Once the request for the report is received, the report, including atleast a portion of the database contents, is generated utilizing theinformation. See operation 104. Furthermore, the report is output. Seeoperation 106.

As an option, the information describing the relationship between the atleast two different objects may also be stored. In this case, theinformation may be stored in memory and/or a specific instance of theon-demand database. In various embodiments, the information may bestored in a report template, a list, a table, or in various otherformats. In this way, the stored information may then be accessible foradditional use.

For example, with a report template, the report may be generated againwith an updated version of the database contents, utilizing the storedinformation. In this case, the stored information may be linked to, orassociated with an identifier. Thus, the identifier may be used toaccess the stored data.

For instance, if the information is stored as a report template, anidentifier for the report template may be received. This identifier maythen be used to lookup or access the information. It should be notedthat the identifier may be any identifier used to identify the reporttemplate, such as a unique key or code, or a report template name ortag.

In addition to receiving a request for a report on the databasecontents, a request to perform an outer join on the database contents ofthe on-demand database service may also be received. In the context ofthe present description, an outer join refers to a join functionoperating between two objects, such as two tables, using identifiers(e.g. keys, etc.) that may have missing identifiers (e.g. keys, etc.) onone side of the join. For example, for an outer join, a query may returnrows present from one side of a first table, and “NULL” for any emptycells in missing rows from another second table without correspondingdata.

Using an outer join, join results may be returned when the namedjoin-side matches. In various embodiments, the outer join may include aleft outer join (e.g. where lines may be returned if there are no lineson the right side of the join), a right outer join (e.g. where lines maybe returned if there are no lines on the left side of the join), and afull outer join (e.g. where lines may be returned from either side,whether or not there are matching lines on the other side).

In response to the request to perform the outer join, the outer join maybe performed. In this case, the outer join may be performed on at leasttwo tables of the database contents of the on-demand database service.As an option, the request to perform the outer join may include one ormore conditions defining the outer join for use in performing the outerjoin. In this case, the one or more conditions may include a type ofouter join (e.g. a left outer join, a right outer join, a full outerjoin, etc.), various filter criteria (e.g. object filtering, etc.), anexistence of data, and/or other standard or customized conditions.

Once the outer join is performed on the at least two tables of thedatabase contents of the on-demand database service, at least some ofthe results of the outer join may be included in the report. In thiscase, the report may include a plurality of rows present in at least afirst one of the tables. Additionally, the report may include a nullvalue for any cells in rows of a second one of the tables which lackdata corresponding to the condition. For example, the report may includethe rows present from the first table, and a null value for the emptycells in the missing rows from the side without corresponding data.

FIG. 2A shows a method 200 for generating a custom report type using anon-demand database service, in accordance with another embodiment. As anoption, the present method 200 may be implemented in the context of thefunctionality of FIG. 1. Of course, however, the method 200 may becarried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitionsmay apply during the present description.

As shown, a custom report creation process is initiated by choosing tocreate a new report type. In the context of the present description, areport type may include a report template and define a set of objectsthat may be used in a report. The report type may also include arelationship between those objects, a set of columns enabled and set bydefault for a user, a definition of the columns that may be used asaggregates, and a scope of access.

For example, a setup or configuration interface may be presented to auser. In this case, the interface may display a list of report typesthat may be created or that are already in existence. See operation 202.Furthermore, the interface may include an option to create a new reporttype.

FIG. 2B shows an interface for initiating the creation of a new reporttype, in accordance with one embodiment.

Using the interface, the user may choose to create or edit a reporttype. As a result, the user may be presented with an option to choose aprimary object around which the report may run. See operation 204. Forexample, in one embodiment, the user may choose the primary object to be“Accounts” or “Patents.” As an option, the user may choose the primaryobject using an interface. In one embodiment, the interface may bepresented to the user upon selecting a button to create or edit a reporttype.

FIG. 2C shows an interface for selecting a primary object or a focus ofa custom report type, in accordance with one embodiment. As an option,the user may also use the interface to name the report type.

Once the user chooses a primary object, the user may choose lookups andrelated child objects for the custom report. See operation 206-208. Forexample, in the case that the focus of the current report type (i.e. theprimary object) is “Accounts,” the user may chose “Contacts,” “Assets,”and/or “Offices” as child objects. For instance, the user may choose toadd items such as data tables or portions of data tables.

Additionally, relationships between objects may be defined. For example,a user may define that every first record must have a related secondrecord and each second record must have a related third record.Furthermore, the user may specify whether to implement inner and/orouter joins. In this case, inner joins refer to a database join wherethe join condition may be met to return any data. Furthermore, as shownin operation 210, “With” relationships refer to representations ofdatabase inner joins and “Without” relationships refer torepresentations of database outer joins. In this way, a report recordset may be defined.

FIG. 2D shows an interface for choosing related child objects, anddefining object relationships, in accordance with one embodiment. FIG.2E shows an interface summarizing information for a report type duringthe custom report type creation process, in accordance with oneembodiment.

Once the user has defined object relationships, the user may add customfields, define filters, and define a layout of the custom report. Seeoperations 212-220. For example, the user may add custom fields byselecting from a plurality of fields displayed on an interface, such as“Account Name,” “Account Number,” “Account Owner,” etc.

FIG. 2F shows an interface for adding custom fields to a report type, inaccordance with one embodiment. As an option, the user may be presentedwith a list of fields that the user may select (e.g. using a drag anddrop technique, select box, etc.) to add to the report type.Additionally, the user may use the interface to define an arrangement ofthe fields on the report. For example, the user may group fields intosections to be displayed on the report.

FIG. 2G shows an interface for adding fields using a lookuprelationship, in accordance with one embodiment. Using this interface,the user may have the option to view all of the fields related to theprimary object in a list format such that the user may select the fieldand add it to the report type. As another option, the user may have theability to change names or labels on items and/or objects.

FIG. 2H shows an interface for defining filters, in accordance with oneembodiment. Using such an interface, the user may be able to implementstandard and customized filters. The user may also choose to make thefilter present on all reports created for a report type.

Once the user has added the fields, defined the filters, and defined thefield layout of the custom report type, the user may save the reporttype as a report template. See operation 222. As an option, the user maycreate a new report type folder. See operation 224. Once the report typehas been saved, the report type (i.e. a report template) is added to alist of reports. See operation 226.

FIG. 3 shows a method 300 for generating a custom report using anon-demand database service, in accordance with another embodiment. As anoption, the present method 300 may be implemented in the context of thefunctionality of FIGS. 1-2. Of course, however, the method 300 may becarried out in any desired environment. Again, the aforementioneddefinitions may apply during the present description.

As shown, a query, which represents a request to perform an outer joinon at least two tables, is split. See operation 302. Subsequently, afirst part of the query is optimized against a first (e.g. leading)table to be joined. See operation 304.

In this case, the optimization may include applying a filter to thefirst part of the query. The query is then submitted. See operation 306.

The query is then processed and the results of the query are received.See operation 308. In this case, the results may include a set offoreign keys to a second (e.g. outer) table to be joined. These resultsare then analyzed. See operation 310. Based on the set of foreign keys,it is then determined whether to query the second table to be joinedbased on the foreign keys obtained from the optimization of the firstpart of the query, or based on another user provided filter on thesecond table, which may be more selective. See operation 312.

In this case, the foreign keys may include any identifiers associatedwith the second table that are stored in the first table. For example,the second table may be an “Account” table including a task identifierwhich is the foreign key in the first table

If it is determined that the query is based on the foreign keys, thesecond table is queried using the foreign keys. See operation 314. If itis determined that the query is based on the user defined filter, thesecond table is queried using the other filter. See operation 316.

In this way, queries using a large set of foreign keys may be avoided byusing user define filter criteria to query the second table.Furthermore, the queries may be run against the indexes of the tables toestimate a size of the output. For example, the request to perform theouter join may include a plurality of keys to indexes of the secondtable. It may then be determined whether to use the keys to query thesecond table or to use a user defined filter to query the second table.Thus, the decision may be based on the number of the keys. In otherwords, if there are a large number of keys, the user defined filter maybe user to minimize the processing burden.

The results of the query are then output. See operation 318. In oneembodiment, a first number of rows of a table may only need to bedisplayed. Thus, not all of the foreign key values need to bedetermined. In this case, the request to perform the outer join on thetable may include a plurality of keys that are a subset of a largernumber of keys, the subset of keys corresponding to information of thereport to be output or displayed. Thus, lookups using the foreign keysmay be performed in batches based on data that is to be displayed.

System Overview

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an environment 410 wherein anon-demand database service might be used. As an option, any of thepreviously described embodiments of the foregoing figures may or may notbe implemented in the context of the environment 410. Environment 410may include user systems 412, network 414, system 416, processor system417, application platform 418, network interface 420, tenant datastorage 422, system data storage 424, program code 426, and processspace 428. In other embodiments, environment 410 may not have all of thecomponents listed and/or may have other elements instead of, or inaddition to, those listed above.

Environment 410 is an environment in which an on-demand database serviceexists. User system 412 may be any machine or system that is used by auser to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems412 can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptopcomputer, a work station, and/or a network of computing devices. Asillustrated in FIG. 4 (and in more detail in FIG. 5) user systems 412might interact via a network with an on-demand database service, whichis system 416.

An on-demand database service, such as system 416, is a database systemthat is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarilybe concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, butinstead may be available for their use when the users need the databasesystem (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand databaseservices may store information from one or more tenants stored intotables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system(MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database service 416” and “system 416”will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one ormore database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) orthe equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information againstthe database object(s). Application platform 418 may be a framework thatallows the applications of system 416 to run, such as the hardwareand/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demanddatabase service 416 may include an application platform 418 thatenables creation, managing and executing one or more applicationsdeveloped by the provider of the on-demand database service, usersaccessing the on-demand database service via user systems 412, or thirdparty application developers accessing the on-demand database servicevia user systems 412.

The users of user systems 412 may differ in their respective capacities,and the capacity of a particular user system 412 might be entirelydetermined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. Forexample, where a salesperson is using a particular user system 412 tointeract with system 416, that user system has the capacities allottedto that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that usersystem to interact with system 416, that user system has the capacitiesallotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical rolemodel, users at one permission level may have access to applications,data, and database information accessible by a lower permission leveluser, but may not have access to certain applications, databaseinformation, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level.Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard toaccessing and modifying application and database information, dependingon a user's security or permission level.

Network 414 is any network or combination of networks of devices thatcommunicate with one another. For example, network 414 can be any one orany combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network),telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, starnetwork, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriateconfiguration. As the most common type of computer network in currentuse is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol)network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred toas the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in manyof the examples herein. However, it should be understood that thenetworks that the present invention might use are not so limited,although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol.

User systems 412 might communicate with system 416 using TCP/IP and, ata higher network level, use other common Internet protocols tocommunicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTPis used, user system 412 might include an HTTP client commonly referredto as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from anHTTP server at system 416. Such an HTTP server might be implemented asthe sole network interface between system 416 and network 414, but othertechniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations,the interface between system 416 and network 414 includes load sharingfunctionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balanceloads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality ofservers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, eachof the plurality of servers has access to the MTS' data; however, otheralternative configurations may be used instead.

In one embodiment, system 416, shown in FIG. 4, implements a web-basedcustomer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in oneembodiment, system 416 includes application servers configured toimplement and execute CRM software applications as well as providerelated data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and fromuser systems 412 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database systemrelated data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system,data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical databaseobject, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of onetenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that onetenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such datais expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system 416 implementsapplications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. Forexample, system 416 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted(standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User(or third party developer) applications, which may or may not includeCRM, may be supported by the application platform 418, which managescreation, storage of the applications into one or more database objectsand executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the processspace of the system 416.

One arrangement for elements of system 416 is shown in FIG. 5, includinga network interface 420, application platform 418, tenant data storage422 for tenant data 423, system data storage 424 for system dataaccessible to system 416 and possibly multiple tenants, program code 426for implementing various functions of system 416, and a process space428 for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes,such as running applications as part of an application hosting service.Additional processes that may execute on system 416 include databaseindexing processes.

Several elements in the system shown in FIG. 4 include conventional,well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example,each user system 412 could include a desktop personal computer,workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol(WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable ofinterfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other networkconnection. User system 412 typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., abrowsing program, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser,Netscape's Navigator browser, Opera's browser, or a WAP-enabled browserin the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like,allowing a user (e.g. subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) ofuser system 412 to access, process and view information, pages andapplications available to it from system 416 over network 414. Each usersystem 412 also typically includes one or more user interface devices,such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch screen, pen orthe like, for interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) providedby the browser on a display (e.g. a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.)in conjunction with pages, forms, applications and other informationprovided by system 416 or other systems or servers. For example, theuser interface device can be used to access data and applications hostedby system 416, and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwiseallow a user to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented toa user. As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with theInternet, which refers to a specific global internetwork of networks.However, it should be understood that other networks can be used insteadof the Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like.

According to one embodiment, each user system 412 and all of itscomponents are operator configurable using applications, such as abrowser, including computer code run using a central processing unitsuch as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, system 416(and additional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) andall of their components might be operator configurable usingapplication(s) including computer code to run using a central processingunit such as processor system 417 of FIG. 4, which may include an IntelPentium® processor or the like, and/or multiple processor units. Acomputer program product embodiment includes a machine-readable storagemedium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be usedto program a computer to perform any of the processes of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Computer code for operating and configuring system 416to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other dataand media content as described herein are preferably downloaded andstored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof,may also be stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory mediumor device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on anymedia capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotatingmedia including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk(DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, andmagnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs),or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/ordata. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may betransmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmissionmedium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is wellknown, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection asis well known (e.g. extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communicationmedium and protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as arewell known. It will also be appreciated that computer code forimplementing embodiments of the present invention can be implemented inany programming language that can be executed on a client system and/orserver or server system such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any othermarkup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scriptinglanguage, such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as arewell known may be used. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems,Inc.).

According to one embodiment, each system 416 is configured to providewebpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client)systems 412 to support the access by user systems 412 as tenants ofsystem 416. As such, system 416 provides security mechanisms to keepeach tenant's data separate unless the data is shared. If more than oneMTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another (e.g.in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may bedistributed at locations remote from one another (e.g. one or moreservers located in city A and one or more servers located in city B). Asused herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/orphysically connected servers distributed locally or across one or moregeographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant toinclude a computer system, including processing hardware and processspace(s), and an associated storage system and database application(e.g. OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also beunderstood that “server system” and “server” are often usedinterchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described hereincan be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, acollection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online oroffline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include adistributed database or storage network and associated processingintelligence.

FIG. 5 also illustrates environment 410. However, in FIG. 5 elements ofsystem 416 and various interconnections in an embodiment are furtherillustrated. FIG. 5 shows that user system 412 may include processorsystem 412A, memory system 412B, input system 412C, and output system412D. FIG. 5 shows network 414 and system 416. FIG. 5 also shows thatsystem 416 may include tenant data storage 422, tenant data 423, systemdata storage 424, system data 425, User Interface (UI) 530, ApplicationProgram Interface (API) 532, PL/SOQL 534, save routines 536, applicationsetup mechanism 538, applications servers 500 ₁-500 _(N), system processspace 502, tenant process spaces 504, tenant management process space510, tenant storage area 512, user storage 514, and application metadata516. In other embodiments, environment 410 may not have the sameelements as those listed above and/or may have other elements insteadof, or in addition to, those listed above.

User system 412, network 414, system 416, tenant data storage 422, andsystem data storage 424 were discussed above in FIG. 4. Regarding usersystem 412, processor system 412A may be any combination of one or moreprocessors. Memory system 412B may be any combination of one or morememory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system 412Cmay be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards,mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks.Output system 412D may be any combination of output devices, such as oneor more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown byFIG. 5, system 416 may include a network interface 420 (of FIG. 4)implemented as a set of HTTP application servers 500, an applicationplatform 418, tenant data storage 422, and system data storage 424. Alsoshown is system process space 502, including individual tenant processspaces 504 and a tenant management process space 510. Each applicationserver 500 may be configured to tenant data storage 422 and the tenantdata 423 therein, and system data storage 424 and the system data 425therein to serve requests of user systems 412. The tenant data 423 mightbe divided into individual tenant storage areas 512, which can be eithera physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within eachtenant storage area 512, user storage 514 and application metadata 516might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of auser's most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user storage514. Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is atenant might be stored to tenant storage area 512. A UI 530 provides auser interface and an API 532 provides an application programmerinterface to system 416 resident processes to users and/or developers atuser systems 412. The tenant data and the system data may be stored invarious databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases.

Application platform 418 includes an application setup mechanism 538that supports application developers' creation and management ofapplications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage422 by save routines 536 for execution by subscribers as one or moretenant process spaces 504 managed by tenant management process 510 forexample. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL 534that provides a programming language style interface extension to API532. A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments isdiscussed in commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application60/828,192 entitled, “PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOREXTENDING APIS TO EXECUTE IN CONJUNCTION WITH DATABASE APIS,” by CraigWeissman, filed Oct. 4, 2006, which is incorporated in its entiretyherein for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be detected byone or more system processes, which manage retrieving applicationmetadata 516 for the subscriber making the invocation and executing themetadata as an application in a virtual machine.

Each application server 500 may be communicably coupled to databasesystems, e.g., having access to system data 425 and tenant data 423, viaa different network connection. For example, one application server 500₁ might be coupled via the network 414 (e.g., the Internet), anotherapplication server 500 _(N-1) might be coupled via a direct networklink, and another application server 500 _(N) might be coupled by yet adifferent network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and InternetProtocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating betweenapplication servers 500 and the database system. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may beused to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used.

In certain embodiments, each application server 500 is configured tohandle requests for any user associated with any organization that is atenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove applicationservers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there ispreferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to aspecific application server 500. In one embodiment, therefore, aninterface system implementing a load balancing function (e.g., an F5Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the applicationservers 500 and the user systems 412 to distribute requests to theapplication servers 500. In one embodiment, the load balancer uses aleast connections algorithm to route user requests to the applicationservers 500. Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as roundrobin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, incertain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user couldhit three different application servers 500, and three requests fromdifferent users could hit the same application server 500. In thismanner, system 416 is multi-tenant, wherein system 416 handles storageof, and access to, different objects, data and applications acrossdisparate users and organizations.

As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs asales force where each salesperson uses system 416 to manage their salesprocess. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customerfollow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., allapplicable to that user's personal sales process (e.g., in tenant datastorage 422). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the dataand the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit,calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system havingnothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her salesefforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example,if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internetaccess in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as tothat customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby.

While each user's data might be separate from other users' dataregardless of the employers of each user, some data might beorganization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users orall of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, theremight be some data structures managed by system 416 that are allocatedat the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at theuser level. Because an MTS might support multiple tenants includingpossible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keepdata, applications, and application use separate. Also, because manytenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their ownsystem, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions thatmay be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data andtenant-specific data, system 416 might also maintain system level datausable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data mightinclude industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharableamong tenants.

In certain embodiments, user systems 412 (which may be client systems)communicate with application servers 500 to request and updatesystem-level and tenant-level data from system 416 that may requiresending one or more queries to tenant data storage 422 and/or systemdata storage 424. System 416 (e.g., an application server 500 in system416) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one ormore SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information.System data storage 424 may generate query plans to access the requesteddata from the database.

Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, suchas a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefinedcategories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may beused herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and customobjects according to the present invention. It should be understood that“table” and “object” may be used interchangeably herein. Each tablegenerally contains one or more data categories logically arranged ascolumns or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a tablecontains an instance of data for each category defined by the fields.For example, a CRM database may include a table that describes acustomer with fields for basic contact information such as name,address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might describe apurchase order, including fields for information such as customer,product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant database systems,standard entity tables might be provided for use by all tenants. For CRMdatabase applications, such standard entities might include tables forAccount, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity data, each containingpre-defined fields. It should be understood that the word “entity” mayalso be used interchangeably herein with “object” and “table”.

In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to createand store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standardentities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standardobjects, including custom index fields, U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS INA MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” which is hereby incorporated herein byreference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects aswell as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system.In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows arestored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may containmultiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customersthat their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table orthat their data may be stored in the same table as the data of othercustomers.

It should be noted that any of the different embodiments describedherein may or may not be equipped with any one or more of the featuresset forth in one or more of the following published applications:US2003/0233404, titled “OFFLINE SIMULATION OF ONLINE SESSION BETWEENCLIENT AND SERVER,” filed Nov. 4, 2002; US2004/0210909, titled “JAVAOBJECT CACHE SERVER FOR DATABASES,” filed Apr. 17, 2003, now issued U.S.Pat. No. 7,209,929; US2005/0065925, titled “QUERY OPTIMIZATION IN AMULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Sep. 23, 2003; US2005/0223022,titled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,”filed Apr. 2, 2004; US2005/0283478, titled “SOAP-BASED WEB SERVICES IN AMULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Jun. 16, 2004; and/orUS2006/0206834, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTINGMULTI-APPLICATION TABS AND TAB SETS,” filed Mar. 8, 2005; which are eachincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofthe specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it isintended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements aswould be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope ofthe appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so asto encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving a requestfor a report on database contents of an on-demand database service, therequest indicating a previously defined report template storing anidentification of: a primary object, a child object to the primaryobject, and one of an inner join operation and an outer join operation;performing the one of the inner join operation and the outer joinoperation identified from the previously defined report template on theprimary object and the child object identified from the previouslydefined report template, to generate, utilizing a processor, the report;and outputting the report; wherein at least one of the primary objectand the child object includes a custom object; wherein theidentification of the outer join operation includes a plurality of keysto indexes of one of the primary object and the child object;determining whether to use the keys to query the one of the primaryobject and the child object or to use a user defined filter to query theone of the primary object and the child object; wherein the determiningis based on a total number of the keys; wherein the plurality of keysare a subset of a larger number of keys, the subset of keyscorresponding to information of the report to be output.
 2. The methodof claim 1, and further comprising storing the previously defined reporttemplate.
 3. The method of claim 2, and further comprising generatingthe report again with an updated version of at least one of the primaryobject and the child object, utilizing the previously defined reporttemplate.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the inner joinoperation and the outer join operation of the previously defined reporttemplate is the outer join operation.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe outer join operation is performed.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe previously defined report template further includes at least onecondition defining the outer join operation for use in performing theouter join operation.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reportincludes a plurality of rows present in at least one of the primaryobject and the child object.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thereport includes a null value for any cells in rows of the other one ofthe primary object and the child object which lack data corresponding tothe at least one condition.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theon-demand database service includes a multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the previously definedreport template is indicated by a unique code within the request. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the previously defined report templatewas previously configured by a user utilizing a user interface, by:receiving from the user a selection of the primary object, displaying tothe user a list of one or more child objects to the primary object,receiving from the user a selection of the child object from the list ofone or more child objects to the primary object, and storing as thepreviously defined report template an identification of the primaryobject selected by the user, the child object selected by the user, andthe one of the inner join operation and the outer join operation.
 12. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences ofinstructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to carry out the steps of: receiving a requestfor a report on database contents of an on-demand database service, therequest indicating a previously defined report template storing anidentification of: a primary object, a child object to the primaryobject, and one of an inner join operation and an outer join operation;performing the one of the inner join operation and the outer joinoperation identified from the previously defined report template on theprimary object and the child object identified from the previouslydefined report template, to generate the report; and outputting thereport; wherein at least one of the primary object and the child objectincludes a custom object; wherein the identification of the outer joinoperation includes a plurality of keys to indexes of one of the primaryobject and the child object; determining whether to use the keys toquery the one of the primary object and the child object or to use auser defined filter to query the one of the primary object and the childobject; wherein the determining is based on a total number of the keys;wherein the plurality of keys are a subset of a larger number of keys,the subset of keys corresponding to information of the report to beoutput.
 13. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; and one or morestored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor,cause the processor to carry out the steps of: receiving a request for areport on database contents of an on-demand database service, therequest indicating a previously defined report template storing anidentification of: a primary object, a child object to the primaryobject, and one of an inner join operation and an outer join operation;performing the one of the inner join operation and the outer joinoperation identified from the previously defined report template on theprimary object and the child object identified from the previouslydefined report template, to generate the report; and outputting thereport; wherein at least one of the primary object and the child objectincludes a custom object; wherein the identification of the outer joinoperation includes a plurality of keys to indexes of one of the primaryobject and the child object; determining whether to use the keys toquery the one of the primary object and the child object or to use auser defined filter to query the one of the primary object and the childobject; wherein the determining is based on a total number of the keys;wherein the plurality of keys are a subset of a larger number of keys,the subset of keys corresponding to information of the report to beoutput.
 14. A method for transmitting code for use in a multi-tenantdatabase system on a transmission medium, the method comprising:transmitting code, utilizing a processor, for receiving a request for areport on database contents of an on-demand database service, therequest indicating a previously defined report template storing anidentification of: a primary object, a child object to the primaryobject, and one of an inner join operation and an outer join operation;transmitting code for performing the one of the inner join operation andthe outer join operation identified from the previously defined reporttemplate on the primary object and the child object identified from thepreviously defined report template, to generate the report; andtransmitting code for outputting the report; wherein at least one of theprimary object and the child object includes a custom object; whereinthe identification of the outer join operation includes a plurality ofkeys to indexes of one of the primary object and the child object;determining whether to use the keys to query the one of the primaryobject and the child object or to use a user defined filter to query theone of the primary object and the child object; wherein the determiningis based on a total number of the keys; wherein the plurality of keysare a subset of a larger number of keys, the subset of keyscorresponding to information of the report to be output.